Genetic mug shots could be on the horizon after DNA breakthrough

Shades of being: Subtle skin tone variations in European faces, left, and African ones, right, will one day be detected from a strand of DNA (Picture: PA/Penn State)

DNA left at a crime scene could in future be used to build up a precise picture of an offender’s face.

A first step towards genetic mug shots, a sci-fi twist on the hit CSI TV franchise, has been taken by researchers.

They are now able to link specific DNA markers with different face shapes and deformations.

The Pennsylvania University team found that 20 genes had significant effects on facial appearance.

One gene shaped the lips, another the shape and configuration of bones around the eyes, and a third the appearance of the mid-face and skull.

‘We use DNA to match to an individual or identify an individual, but you can get so much more from DNA,’ said lead scientist professor Mark Shriver.

‘Currently we can’t go from DNA to a face, or from a face to DNA, but it should be possible one day.’

The implications are far reaching, raising the possibility of creating a very accurate data bank of facial types. DNA from a crime scene could then be used to produce a rough image of the face of an offender or victim.

Such genetic mug shots may be more reliable than computer-generated efits based on witness descriptions.

Other uses of the technique might include proving the identity of fathers in paternity cases, or visualising our remote ancestors from old DNA.

‘Such predictive modelling could be forensically useful,’ researchers told the journal Public Library of Science Genetics. ‘DNA left at crime scenes could be tested and faces predicted in order to help narrow the pool of suspects.

‘Further, our methods could be used to predict the facial features of descendants, deceased ancestors, and even extinct human species.

‘In addition, these methods could prove to be useful diagnostic tools.’